Len Cariou | |
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![]() Cariou in September 2009 | |
Born | Leonard Joseph Cariou September 30, 1939 |
Alma mater | St. Paul's College |
Occupation | Actor |
Spouse |
Heather Summerhayes (m. 1985) |
Awards | Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical |
Leonard Joseph Cariou OC OM (/ˈkæriu/; born September 30, 1939) is a Canadian stage actor, singer and stage director. He gained prominence for his portrayal of Sweeney Todd in the original cast of Stephen Sondheim's musical Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (1979) alongside Angela Lansbury for which he won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical. He also received Tony nominations for his roles in the Betty Comden and Adolph Green musical Applause (1970), and the Sondheim musical A Little Night Music (1973).
He is also known for his film roles in A Little Night Music (1977), The Four Seasons (1981), Thirteen Days (2000), About Schmidt (2002), Flags of Our Fathers (2006), Prisoners (2013), and Spotlight (2015). He portrayed Franklin D. Roosevelt in the HBO film Into the Storm (2009) for which he received a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie. He also is known for his recurring television roles in Murder, She Wrote (1985-1992), Brotherhood (2005-2006), and Damages (2010). Since 2010, he has starred as the patriarch Henry Reagan, NYPD Police Commissioner (retired), in the multi-generational CBS series Blue Bloods.